Small things
that made me smile
I was walking back towards the city on the Tokha road yesterday after spending time with a friend in hospital1—thankfully home now and on the mend—and taking the opportunity to pop in a few shops as I went. As those of us who live here know, different branches of the same supermarkets can carry wildly different stock, and as this is an area I don’t often visit, I wanted to check a few out. At one, larger place, for example, I found a package of the sort of small pasta I love to toss in soup; it’s less common and I’d run out so I was happy to pick some up. (Yes, I am the kind of person who has multiple shapes and sizes of pasta at any given time because different sorts are needed for different things, you know!2)
A little further along the road, I came to a branch of a smaller supermarket; while definitely more basic and carrying less variety than the one where I’d bought the pasta, they make up for it by generally having helpful, friendly staff and going for quantity of outlets, particularly outside the ringroad.
Outside this one, I spotted a sign that was new to me.
No helmets is one you see a lot, but do people bring not just their dogs but also their cats along on shopping trips? Amused, I continued on my way.
Less than ten minutes’ walk along the road was yet another branch of this same shop—I told you, they go for small and frequent—and while this one also had a less colorful no helmets sign stuck up on the door, they neglected to mention the ban on pets, which is perhaps why this dog had chosen this one to take a nap in.
Did I mention they are the exact same chain, just minutes apart? No matter, it made me smile, and the pupper was unbothered as I made my few purchases and carefully stepped around him to continue home.
These flowers were growing around the bases of a line of trees alongside the hospital parking lot, and their cheerful brightness made me smile, too.
A few months ago I was concerned that I was running low on pasta; a count found that I actually had six or seven different kinds, just not the one I needed that day—to me, that’s running low. I grew up in Italy, what can I say… 😂
I enjoy your regular posts about life in Nepal. Makes me miss it! Did I tell you I'll be visiting in Sept/early Oct? Would love to have chai and momos with you if the timing works out :)